Blog - BookNet Canadahttps://www.booknetcanada.ca/blog/Fri, 18 May 2018 18:44:47 +0000en-USSite-Server v6.0.0-14282-14282 (http://www.squarespace.com)Where do we go from here? Futurist thinking for independent booksellersBooksellingLauren StewartFri, 18 May 2018 19:07:14 +0000https://www.booknetcanada.ca/blog/2018/5/18/where-do-we-go-from-here-futurist-thinking-for-independent-booksellers550334cbe4b0e08b6885e88f:55a3f2b1e4b0d44eb7d704bc:5aff1f1ff950b75f40647e32Do you have a plan for bookselling in 10 years? What about 20? We’ve got
lessons, plans, and tools to help indie stores navigate the future of
bookselling.While attending the American Booksellers Association's 13th annual 2018 Winter Institute, aka #wi13, in Memphis, Tennessee at the end of January, I was left thinking about one of my favourite songs from the lauded musical episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, "Once More With Feeling." At the end of the episode, after Buffy and her friends defeat the bad guy, they gather for a final (very literal) bow, express their mutual feelings of consternation and isolation, and sing:

Where do we go from here? / Where do we go from here? / The battle's done and we kind of won / So we sound our victory cheer / Where do we go from here?

Winter Institute is a must-attend event for any serious bookseller (who's able to attend); you won't find a meeting of more interesting, motivated, and excited booksellers anywhere else in the industry. But after leaving Memphis, I felt nervous. While the conference felt like a celebration that things are as they should be for independent bookselling — sales are up, speakers from both within and outside bookselling professed the essential nature of indie bookstores to the well-being of their communities and culture at-large, and the booze was flowing — but there are things that need to be addressed as booksellers plan for the future. Like keynote Amy Webb, a quantitative futurist and author of The Signals are Talking: Why Today's Fringe is Tomorrow's Mainstream, I am a pragmatist, not an optimist. But I'll get there.

What we talk about when we talk about indie bookselling in 2018

Winter Institute covered a lot of ground in Memphis: actress Sarah Jessica Parker discussed her new imprint for Hogarth Books; Morten Hansen led an intensive workshop on identifying and refining a store's strengths; and there were sessions on social media strategies, sidelines, and hiring with diversity in mind, etc. There were also sessions on business strategy, legal issues, and inclusion. Indeed, almosteveryconceivabletopicofrelevance to independent booksellers was explored.

What we don't talk about when we talk about indie bookselling in 2018

But there was much left unsaid.

In their recap, Publishers Weekly observed that the mood "was largely upbeat. Many [booksellers] had had particularly good years in 2017." This was echoed in American Booksellers Association CEO Oren Teicher's address to booksellers: “For more than five years now, our channel has seen sustained growth—the result of your clear focus on ongoing professional development, tireless work, and continued entrepreneurial innovation." Recognizing that growth was not experienced by all stores, Teicher called out various factors, such as environmental disasters, rising minimum wages, consumer buying habits, and dollars moving online, as contributing to the difficulties experienced by independent retailers in the past year.

The elephant in the room these days, however, is Amazon. After all, we know Amazon is no simple bookstore — it's "the everything store." Invariably, when the word "online" is mentioned in a room full of booksellers who have been competing with the online marketplace for over two decades now, we are often referring to Amazon. Online book prices are lower, competition is essentially non-existent, and more and more customers are spending their time and dollars discovering and purchasing books online.

When we do talk about Amazon, we talk about pricing, heavy-handed negotiations with Big Six publishers, Prime membership trends, and revenues, but we need to be talking about much more.

Amazon is a bookseller but not every bookseller is Amazonian: Amazon Inc. & artificial intelligence

When Amazon.com launched in 1994, it was a bookstore in the sense that it was an online marketplace for strictly one product: books. However, in its S-1 filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), it eloquently stated its objective (emphasis added) "to be the leading online retailer of information-based products and services, with an initial focus on books." That books were simply the starting point was not noticed by many at the time, which is why the company attracted attention a few years later when it explained that its vision (again, emphasis added) "is to be earth's most customer-centric company; to build a place where people can come to find and discover anything they might want to buy online." This brings us to the present and Amazon's six primary strategic focuses, according to Webb:

Consider this snippet from Bloomberg (emphasis added): "Amazon also announced Wednesday a partnership that lets people buy car tires on its website and have them delivered and installed at some Sears Holdings Corp. auto centers. It's another example of how Amazon is trying to stretch into product areas that have been almost entirely immune to e-commerce."

But these are all distractions. Webb suggested that independent booksellers and the wider publishing industry need to drastically shift to new ways of thinking to achieve sustainability. Yes, Amazon is constantly dazzling everyone with new product innovations, but is it possible that the current fixation on Amazon Go is merely a distraction? Webb notes in her talk, "The Future of Bookselling", that the public face of "the retail platform, the payment gateway, the customer data, the inventory systems [are] all being propelled by AI" that Amazon doesn't want us to notice. There are signals that consumers, and booksellers, should be noting that "tell us about the future of bookselling, even indie bookstores... [and] something about the future of how all of us will shop.”

Amazon is a company that purports to be obsessed with customers, and their business strategy is to pursue that obsession through relentless innovation. But it may be that Amazon is writing the future, featuring itself as the protagonist, while its customer base becomes a passive background character.

"Like every technology, when it becomes so convenient and easy, we’ll keep using it… even when we know it’s bad for us" - Amy Webb

Consider Amazon's Prime and "Subscribe and Save" services.

A primer on Prime: Prime is a membership program with an annual fee that allows the consumer to enjoy free two-day shipping for items fulfilled by Amazon (Amazon has a marketplace model where other sellers may list items and elect to either enlist Amazon to stock and fulfill customer orders or fulfill the orders themselves), as well as free returns, access to the Prime library of digital books, movies, television, and audio content (including exclusives and Amazon-produced content). In Canada, Prime sets you back $79/year and there are over 100 million subscribers across the planet, with over 90% of members renewing on an annual basis (according to Amazon in its recent report to shareholders).

A primer on "Subscribe and Save": This service is available to any Amazon customer with an account and saved credit card information. By partnering with a number of product manufacturers and distributors, they can offer a select list of household staples (largely supplies and edible pantry items) through a subscription. The customer can set up parameters including quantity, frequency of deliveries, delivery address, etc. and Amazon will automatically send a package every month with the items requested with no reordering work required. Oh, and if five or more items come in a single delivery, you'll get an additional 15% off. It's easy to do, and it works.

Both services are examples of Amazon's efficiency at recruiting and retaining customers: set high expectations, meet or exceed them, and continue innovating. Prime members see regular enhancements to the program. Just last week it was announced that Prime members will soon get an additional 10% off sale items at Whole Foods (which Amazon acquired in 2017 as a data and product playground).

Meanwhile, the exchange for both of these services between Amazon and its customer is as passive as it gets: A one-time handover of credit card information and all the consumer data Amazon can collect, followed by consistent and reliable product and service delivery. The financial endorsement such an exchange provides is also passive: Through continued patronage and purchasing from Amazon, customers speak with their wallets. Where you spend your money, particularly in today's politically charged environment, gets noticed. While Amazon and other tech companies may save customers time and money, larger issues of fair wages, treatment of warehouse employees, use of personal customer data, and the lack of anonymity, among other factors, are among the true costs of passive consumer engagement with modern tech titans.

Tomorrow is just a day away: The future of bookselling

Webb's work as a futurist means that she looks for "weak signals at the fringe." By using data from weak signals, futurists try to identify and analyze patterns in order to recognize trends as they emerge. They also "use trends to build models for possible, plausible, and probable future scenarios." The hope is that, with these scenarios in mind, observers can calculate risk and make immediate decisions to plan for the future.

In her talk, Webb identified three signals she encourages booksellers to consider when framing their future:

People want community, but they want to dictate the terms.

Advancements in AI will change how people read (and write) books.

The leaders in AI continually mine, refine, and productize our data.

Quite simply, it's impossible to reconcile these signals and their potential future impact without considering the influence and strengths of large tech companies like Amazon that independent booksellers just don't have. With these signals in mind, Webb developed three potential frameworks for the future, for both independent bookstores and publishers:

Indie bookstores in 20 years

Optimistic framing: 25% probability

Independent bookstores are thriving because they banded together in 2018 and invested in digital infrastructure. They now have a digital commerce and fulfillment system that’s just as good as Amazon. Fulfillment is immediate, not several days. Staff are available via video chat to talk about books. Authors attend virtual book tours, hosted by local shops. Community members feel like stakeholders in their local booksellers, who they see as both curators and thinking companions.

Pragmatic framing: 50% probability

Independent bookstores were unsure what to do next. They decided not to take risks. Consumer behaviour changed; they expected no interaction, no lines, no waiting. Speed became paramount. Independent bookstore business slowly eroded.

Catastrophic framing: 25% probability

Amazon became the de-facto backend for retail operations. Because smaller stores couldn’t compete individually, they eventually sold. Local bookshops disappeared. My mother-in-law is now forced to buy wildly inappropriate books for my daughter, who is a confused teenager.

Publishers in 20 years

Optimistic framing: 25% probability

Publishers recognized that their business relationship with Amazon wasn’t sustainable — and that their publishing schedules and workflows weren’t realistic. They reduced friction in the supply chain and enabled books to be published much faster. Publishers got together to launch an exceptional digital reading experience, which now includes generative algorithms that automatically adapt text for reading levels. Readers purchase books or subscriptions through local booksellers.

Pragmatic framing: 50% probability

Amazon began a new kind of program, where books were “piloted” before they were sold. Amazon stopped holding inventory, and instead started printing copies on-demand at its Amazon Go stores and in local warehouses. Publishers are now paid per book license rather than on books sold. The finance model for publishing imploded. Publishers shrank, laid off staff, consolidated.

Catastrophic framing: 25% probability

Book topics, text, and visuals evolved and are now dictated by our data. Books are mostly distributed digitally, though some are printed on-demand. We have a filter bubble that extends to fiction, memoir, biography… Eventually, Amazon launches an automated system to write books without humans.

If you're actively involved with the present-day publishing industry, each of these frameworks represents a drastically different reality from the one you're accustomed to. The optimistic frameworks will require strategic planning, large financial and human resources, and active collaboration at a scale not currently seen in the industry. So how do you plan for a future that may very well not include you?

Futurist thinking is another tool in your toolbox

Facing such troubling future scenarios, Webb suggests radical work for booksellers: take incremental actions for your future. And just as Amazon et. al. use tech and thoughts of the future to their advantage, so can booksellers. She has shared a toolkit on Dropbox with the hope that booksellers can realize the optimistic framework. It outlines a process by which stores can design scenarios that address three key signals that will impact bookselling in the future:

Build a stronger relationship with your local community by getting them great books fast.

Build a stronger relationship with your local community by becoming more visible.

Think about the farther-future, so that you can confront disruption today.

The process then continues by evaluating your completed scenarios against the future frameworks Webb defined (optimistic / pragmatic / catastrophic, as above) and then completing the plan by building in accountability: assigning clear next steps with deadlines attached and identifying who and where to turn when the planning work has stalled.

Naturally, much of this work aligns with the routine strategic and business planning a company does on a regular basis, though the timeline is drastically expanded. Where most strategic and business plans don't exceed five years, futurist planning can extend to 10, 20, or even more years into the future. Take your time, consult, and collaborate. Use the other tools in your toolbox — industry research, tech trends and news reporting, business intelligence software, budgeting, etc. — and pay attention to the weak signals.

Finally, stay in touch with BookNet. We're here to help! Our biweekly TinyLetter for booksellers, Let's Sell Some Books, is a great option for the busy bookseller.

]]>Where do we go from here? Futurist thinking for independent booksellersBookNet Canada tells allBookNet Fun StuffBookNet CanadaFri, 18 May 2018 14:08:31 +0000https://www.booknetcanada.ca/blog/2018/5/18/booknet-canada-tells-all550334cbe4b0e08b6885e88f:55a3f2b1e4b0d44eb7d704bc:5afed81903ce644574104e47Over the last month, you have been submitting your questions. We now have
your answers!Over the last month, we have been hosting our very first AMA (or, "ask me anything" for you non-Redditors). You, our (anonymous) loyal followers, submitted your questions via Google form, and we promised you answers!

So without further ado, allow us to tell you everything you've ever wanted to know.

Q: What's more important, moving to ONIX 3.0 or doing Thema?

Both are important but, long-term, making the transition to ONIX 3.0 is more important than using Thema because ONIX 3.0 allows for greater accuracy in book metadata, supports new and improved structures that retailers need, and it can handle digital records. Start getting ready now! Our webinar with EDItEUR's Graham Bell is a great resource for making the transition.

That being said, you could also do Thema first because it's comparatively straightforward and Thema's subject categories and qualifier codes will remain the same whether you're using ONIX 2.1 or 3.0.

A few quick pointers on using Thema:

A Main Subject is a single (i.e., only one) subject category value that is used in ONIX's subject scheme identifier (code 93). Also, Thema qualifier codes from lists 1 through 6 (94 to 99) can't be used as a Main Subject, only as a regular subject entry.

The single Main Subject code should be accurate for the book's overall content, as it identifies the book as either fiction or non-fiction. Thema allows use of any code that accurately describes a book, so, for example, you could have a book where both FDH, a fiction code for "Espionage & spy thriller", and JPWL, a non-fiction code for "Terrorism, armed struggle", could be used appropriately. In which case, the only way to know if the book is fiction or non-fiction would be by looking at the Main Subject. Otherwise, Main Subject in Thema is used the same way as it is in BISAC – it helps retailers identify the primary section and buyer who should see the book.

Use the most specific codes (subject or qualifier) that apply and as many codes as it takes to describe the book while striving to create an entry with the fewest codes.

Q: Will you eventually have sales data available for ebooks?

We are continuing to work towards having ebook sales in BNC SalesData and hope that this will one day be a reality, though there is currently no timeline in place. This is largely dependent on the cooperation and participation of Canada's major ebook retailers.

Q: What skills/experience/education are you looking for during the selection process for your interns?

We look for the following qualifications when recruiting new BookNet interns:

College diploma or equivalent current course study in a Publishing program

A strong interest in the intersection of books and technology. If you want to be in sales, marketing, distribution, procurement, or operations, this will definitely come in handy.

An excellent grasp of Microsoft Excel. You need to be comfortable enough to learn quickly and painlessly.

High tolerance for painstaking research and strong problem-solving skills.

Flexible and adaptable. Well-organized and attentive to detail. We’re working on many projects at any given time and you could get pulled into any of them.

Courage to speak up and voice an opinion, more courage to not be afraid to ask the dumb question. (If you aren’t asking at least four a day, how can you learn?)

Additionally, we look for someone who is excited about the work BookNet does and is eager to contribute to the team! You can keep an eye on our Jobs page or sign up for our weekly eNews to find out when new intern job postings are up.

At this point in time, we are unable to provide direct access to SalesData for authors or self-published authors. Given the costs and requirements involved in subscribing, a publisher should have at least a few titles being released on a regular basis and selling in the Canadian print trade market and agents should be representing authors with titles selling widely in the Canadian market before signing up.

Traditionally, authors have been represented by their publishers or agents in SalesData, as well as other BookNet products. As a non-profit supporting the entire Canadian book supply chain, our limited resources are focused on supporting small to large organizations, and we do not have the capacity to support potentially hundreds of individual authors. As self-publishing continues to grow in the Canadian market, we will continue to explore ways to better support this emerging stakeholder group.

We should also note that, at this time, SalesData only tracks sales for print books according to their assigned ISBNs. Books only selling in digital formats and/or without an ISBN cannot be tracked in SalesData.

Authors who have an agent or publisher are encouraged to check with them to see if they are SalesData subscribers. We have more FAQs for authors and self-published authors here.

Q: How many business books are published in Canada every year?

We looked in BiblioShare and found that there are 144,513 ISBNs using 188 different Business & Economics BISAC categories. This is the total number of ISBNs with metadata in BiblioShare, not just those published in 2017, which is a harder number to pin down.

The most popular BISACs being used are:

BUSINESS & ECONOMICS / General (27,002 ISBNs)

BUSINESS & ECONOMICS / Economics / General (7,290 ISBNs)

BUSINESS & ECONOMICS / Finance / General (7,235 ISBNs)

The least popular BISAC subjects are:

BUSINESS & ECONOMICS / Insurance / Casualty (2 ISBNs)

BUSINESS & ECONOMICS / Industries / Construction (2 ISBNs)

In terms of sales, there were just over 1 million unit sales tracked in BNC SalesData in the Business & Economics category last year, across 19,810 different ISBNs. This and other sales insights can be found in our annual report, The Canadian Book Market 2017.

We hope that we were able to dissolve some of the mystery surrounding BookNet Canada and our top secret operations. If you missed our AMA, but still have a burning question, feel free to contact us and we will do our best to answer it. Keep in mind, we do not provide sales data for individual titles; you will need to contact the book's publisher for that information.

]]>BookNet Canada tells allIs Reese Witherspoon the new Oprah?Research & AnalysisZalina AlviFri, 11 May 2018 19:33:30 +0000https://www.booknetcanada.ca/blog/2018/5/11/is-reese-witherspoon-the-new-oprah550334cbe4b0e08b6885e88f:55a3f2b1e4b0d44eb7d704bc:5af5d74f8a922da689a8e161When it comes to being the Queen of Book Club Recommendations, can Reese
Witherspoon dethrone Oprah?After pitting Bill Gates against Oprah a few weeks ago (as it turns out, he is not the new Oprah), we started to wonder if there was any celebrity whocould dethrone the Queen of Book Club Recommendations. Even years after shuttering her legendarily popular book club, only sporadically endorsing new titles whenever the mood should strike, Oprah still sends the industry into a tizzy whenever she announces a pick. With more than a few other celebrities hosting their own book clubs, we began to scan the internet for someone who just might have as much of an impact on sales, which brought us to actress-turned-producer-turned-entrepreneur Reese Witherspoon.

As has already been well-reported, Reese's foray into the world of books started with a desire to star in projects with strong female leads, which led her to produce adaptations of books she loved. First there was Wild, based on the memoir by Cheryl Strayed, which earned her an Oscar nomination, and then HBO's critically acclaimed Big Little Lies. At the same time, she started recommending books through her Hello Sunshine Book Club, which now has almost half a million followers on Instagram, and they've started announcing picks on YouTube as well. And, unlike Oprah, Reese announces a new book every month.

But while it's probably safe to say that her widely publicized adaptations provide a sales boost for the books they're based on, it remains to be seen if a book club recommendation from Reese on its own is enough to boost sales. And can she beat Oprah's impact? Let's find out.

Reese vs. Oprah: First four weeks of sales

It just so happens that Oprah and Reese both announced book club picks on Feb. 6, 2018 and both were for books that were publishing the same day. Reese announcedThe Light We Lost by Jill Santopolo (9780735212763) to 12.9 million followers in a photo that received 130k likes, and Oprah championedAn American Marriage by Tayari Jones (9781443456951) to 14.2 million followers in a video that received 155k likes and 1.5 million views.

By comparing the first four weeks of sales for these two books, we can see which one sold more with a little help from their celebrity endorsements. Of course, there are lots of other variables that can affect book sales, like marketing and the author's popularity, but keeping that in mind, let's see which book sold more right out of the gate. And while we can't release unit sales for individual titles, we can show you a redacted comparison of how sales for these two titles stack up against each other.

Units Sold - First Four Weeks from Pub Date

So just looking at print units sold during those first four weeks, we can see that Oprah's pick out-sold Reese's, at least in the Canadian market.

We should note that both books sold better than the authors' previous books by significant margins (keeping in mind that Santopolo's previous works are children's books and Jones' books were not widely available in the Canadian market), so although The Light We Lost sold fewer copies, both celebrity endorsements likely had a positive impact on sales. It's difficult to say for sure, so let's take a closer look at some of Reese's picks from the last few months to see if her announcements resulted in an uptick in sales.

Reese's impact on book sales

In several cases, the date Reese announced a book club pick coincided with the pub date for the book, which makes it hard to judge the impact of the announcement on sales (such as in the case for The Light We Lost). Thankfully, there are a couple of recent picks where the book was already selling in the market well before her announcement. So let's focus on those.

January 2018 — Braving the Wilderness by Brené Brown

The hardcover edition of Braving the Wilderness (9780812995848) published on Sept. 12, 2017 and Reese declared it her January book club pick on Jan. 9, 2018 in an Instagram photo that received 216k likes. Given Brown's popularity as a self-help author, the book was already selling well in the Canadian print market. So did the announcement increase sales?

Following Christmas, sales of the book were on the decline, along with the overall market's usual post-Christmas slump, and the announcement in early January did not provide any discernible uptick. Onto the next book...

April 2018 — Happiness: The Crooked Little Road to Semi-Ever After by Heather Harpham

This memoir by Heather Harpham had been in the market for several months before Reese chose it as her April 2018 book club pick, so we may have better luck associating Reese's book club announcement with sales.

We can see that there is a noticeable uptick in sales right around the time that the book club announcement was made, though sales were not terribly high to begin with. We've also plotted the on-hand numbers on this graph, since it's interesting to see that there was a significant increase in stores stocking the book the week following Reese's announcement. A result of the Reese effect? It's fair to say she's no Oprah, but it's entirely possible.

]]>Is Reese Witherspoon the new Oprah?Loan Stars library memoriesLoan StarsElizabeth BarkerFri, 11 May 2018 19:24:07 +0000https://www.booknetcanada.ca/blog/2018/5/11/loan-stars-library-memories550334cbe4b0e08b6885e88f:55a3f2b1e4b0d44eb7d704bc:5af5dbbaf950b7ad7c9efb26Authors of past Loan Stars top picks share some of their favourite memories
from their local libraries.Fun fact: Loan Stars is a curious service. Not curious as in "strange" — although strange (and wonderful) things have happened around the office — but curious as in inquisitive. As in, we like to ask the hard questions and get answers on matters we really care about. And what do we really care about? That's easy: libraries.

We decided to find out. Here are some of our favourite quotes from authors of past Loan Star top picks, ranging from the impact libraries had on their childhoods to their creative endeavours. As it turns out, all of these authors are Canadian, which we didn't realize until we checked CataList and saw the maple leaves next to their names!

Pro Tip

If you ever want to narrow your search in CataList so it only returns Canadian authors, you can do that! Simply use the "Advanced Search" button next to the regular search bar and click the "Select Canadian contributors only" box under the "Contributor(s)" field. There will be so many tiny maple leaves for you to scroll through.

So, what do Loan Stars authors think about Canadian libraries?

Libraries & childhood

"I remember the sort of sleepy sunlight quality the library has in the winter. And how we used to come for story time in the children's section in the basement as kids. I can picture the way the staircase looks, and the distinct smell of the place — something I think all libraries have."

— Gillian Best, author of The Last Wave

"One of my earliest and fondest memories is of sitting on the steps of the Sudbury Public Library at age four, opening the cover of a newly borrowed book, ready to delve into its magic. Imagine my recent surprise and joy then on returning to that Mackenzie Street address to see those steps and the library looking almost exactly the same after nearly half a century."

— Jeffrey Round, author of Endgame

"Librarians were the gatekeepers to that world of wonder. As an avid young reader, I got to know these gatekeepers very well. They were my mentors, guides who took me by the hand and led me into the enchanted forest of reading, and, ultimately, sent me down a winding path into the life of a writer. Now that I’m all grown up, my local librarians have become much more than guides. They are dear friends, kindred spirits, and each week I look forward to entering their magical kingdom with the same anticipation as I did as a child."

— Gail Anderson-Dargatz, author of The Spawning Grounds

"Being the child of a working class immigrant family, being read to was not a usual activity, and I was often bullied at school. In order to escape the bullies, I would often volunteer at the school library. I loved pulling all of the book spines forward into neat uniform lines along the shelves. That quiet was the most perfect contrast to the chaos of my life then. The sensation of knowing any one of these books and the knowledge within them could be mine for the taking, was empowering to that wilted, shy girl that was once me."

— Catherine Hernandez, author of Scarborough

Libraries & Writing

"I realized just how integral a library is to a community. It's a place for everyone, and it fills so many needs. It offered me a welcoming home away from home to write. Every day I spent there, I was grateful for it."

— Nicole Lundrigan, author of The Substitute

"In the winter of 2014, the coldest winter on record, I was the fortunate Writer-in-Residence at the Winnipeg Public Library. Every morning as I walked into the library, I passed people who had nowhere else to shelter during the deep cold. Men and women experiencing homelessness could find access to a computer or page through job listings in the newspaper. This sense of community was enhanced by the presence of an onsite social worker whose job it was to help library visitors find shelter and employment."

— Méira Cook, author of Once More With Feeling

All of these authors have clearly made connections with libraries, and we want to keep helping intrepid library staff and patrons make connections with them. Visit our website to discover past winners, and Canadian library staff can join CataList to vote for the next generation of top picks.

Most of all we just want to say that libraries are essential, and we value the recommendations of all our participating library staff. Our goal is to not only make their expert opinions known to others, but also to help them connect with new and emerging authors that may have snuck past their to-be-read piles. Want to participate? You can find out how here. And did we mention the free books? Because there are a lot of free books.

We have one last question for all you library staff members out there: Who's awesome?

]]>Loan Stars library memoriesRelive the magic of Tech Forum & ebookcraft 2018: Part twoebookcraftTech ForumKira HarkonenThu, 10 May 2018 14:58:43 +0000https://www.booknetcanada.ca/blog/2018/5/8/relive-the-magic-of-tech-forum-ebookcraft-2018-part-two550334cbe4b0e08b6885e88f:55a3f2b1e4b0d44eb7d704bc:5af1dd5303ce64beba76a093All of our Tech Forum & ebookcraft 2018 videos are now available on
YouTube!Check out Relive the magic: Part one here!

Lean in close; I have a secret to tell you...

All of our Tech Forum & ebookcraft 2018 videos have now been uploaded to our YouTube channel to be viewed at your leisure!

We will be announcing the date and location of Tech Forum & ebookcraft 2019 soon, so make sure you stay tuned, and if you haven't already, subscribe to our newsletter.

We hope to see you next year!

]]>Relive the magic of Tech Forum & ebookcraft 2018: Part twoCanadian Independent Bookstore Day wrap-upBooksellingConferences & EventsKira HarkonenTue, 08 May 2018 15:35:54 +0000https://www.booknetcanada.ca/blog/2018/5/8/canadian-independent-bookstore-day-wrap-up550334cbe4b0e08b6885e88f:55a3f2b1e4b0d44eb7d704bc:5af1ba032b6a280dff86fcbeWrapping up Canada’s inaugural Independent Bookstore Day with stats and
tweets.Last month, the event previously known as Authors for Indies took place for the first time under its new moniker: Canadian Independent Bookstore Day! You may remember our week-by-week planning guide for booksellers, in which we advised all independent shops to stock up on cake. Well, it looks like they listened.

On Saturday, April 28, book-lovers across Canada (and the US) flocked to their local haunting grounds for games, prizes, balloons, snacks, and, of course, books.

— Canadian Independent Bookstore Day (@cdnbookstoreday) April 28, 2018

Canadian Independent Bookstore Day was a smashing success. There were authors and readers of all ages out and about checking out their favourite shops, and scoring some pretty amazing deals on books. Luckily for us, it's all up on Twitter thanks to the #CIBD and #CanadianIndependentBookstoreDay hashtags

In terms of books sold, indie bookstores in Canada had a great week leading up to Canadian Independent Bookstore Day. Compared to an average of three weeks prior, unit sales at Canadian indies were up 7% that week while the overall market (which includes indies) was experiencing a 2% drop. This is according to data reported to BookNet Canada's national sales tracking service, BNC SalesData, which covers 85% of the print, English-language trade market in Canada.

Despite #CanadianIndependentBookstoreDay being the recommended hashtag, #CIBD became much more commonly used, likely thanks to its brevity.

Header photo by Novel Spot Bookshop (@NovelSpotBooks)

To sum up the infographic:

Out of 184 total tweets using the hashtag #CIBD, 71 were retweets, 24 were of images or links, four were plain-text tweets, and one was a reply.

The Twitter users with the most tweets using the #CIBD hashtag were @cdnbookstoreday, @HrDanielle, @goose_lane, and @NovelSpotBooks.

The time period with the most tweets using the hashtag #CIBD was 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. ET on April 28.

]]>Canadian Independent Bookstore Day wrap-upMother's Day book trendsResearch & AnalysisKira HarkonenTue, 08 May 2018 14:22:47 +0000https://www.booknetcanada.ca/blog/2018/5/7/mothers-day-book-trends550334cbe4b0e08b6885e88f:55a3f2b1e4b0d44eb7d704bc:5af0c1b32b6a286f79bbea82We take a look at trends, from sales to keywords, for Mother’s Day.Mother's Day is approaching fast — this year it's on May 13th — and since a good book is, as always, a popular gift, we decided to take a look at various book-related trends surrounding the holiday.

To start, we looked at a quick snapshot of the five top-selling books the week leading up to Mother's Day from the past five years (a lighter version of our usual perennial studies) to see if we could spot any patterns. Publishers tend to release big "chick lit" titles in the front half of the year, as they are a popular gift for moms and for summer reading lists. This includes authors like Danielle Steel, Jodi Picoult, Sophie Kinsella, Nora Roberts, and Nicholas Sparks. But are these the titles selling well leading up to Mother's Day?

Top 5 titles the week of Mother's Day

2017

Into the Water by Paula Hawkins

Jack Reacher: Night School by Lee Child

The Handmaid's Tale (TV tie-in edition)by Margaret Atwood

The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware

2016

The Nest by Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney

The Trials of Apollo: The Hidden Oracle by Rick Riordan

Undercover by Danielle Steele

The Crown by Kiera Cass

Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

2015

Jack Reacher: Personal by Lee Child

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

My Secret Sister by Helen Edwards and Jenny Lee Smith

14th Deadly Sin by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro

Leaving Time by Jodi Picoult

2014

Finding Me by Michelle Knight and Michelle Buford

Chestnut Street by Maeve Binchy

The Longest Ride by Nicholas Sparks

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

Unlucky 13 by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro

2013

Guilty Wives by James Patterson and David Ellis

Dead Ever After by Charlaine Harris

The Spark: A mother's story of nurturing genius by Kristine Barnett

Odd Apocalypse by Dean Koontz

Wedding Night by Sophie Kinsella

While there are a few "chick lit" books in these lists, there are also some thrillers and even YA (as well as the always popular James Patterson). Books in the "female thriller" category, like Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn and The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins, are overwhelmingly read by women, which is likely the reason Paula Hawkin's second novel was published in the weeks leading up to Mother's Day 2017 and why thrillers in general are often in the top five during the second week of May.

But how many of these are possible Mother's Day gifts and how many are just popular bestsellers as we gear up for summer reading lists? To dig a bit deeper, we compared the top five books the week leading up to Mother's Day against the week following, again for the last five years, to see if there are any books or patterns that stand out.

In the week leading up to Mother's Day from 2013 to 2017, 64% of the top five books have been female-authored, while only 28% have been male-authored. However, of the top five books the week immediately after Mother's Day, 44% have been male-authored and 44% have been female-authored. The rest of the titles have either been have both male and female contributors or don't have a specific author's name attached (e.g., National Geographic Kids Almanac).

Keywords

Another area of interest is, you guessed it, the metadata of Mother's Day books. We decided to take a look at how many times "mother's day" was used as a keyword for titles in BiblioShare. (We also included "gift for mom" in our search, so results include instances where one of these two keywords were used, as well as overlap where a title used both, such as "mother's day gift.")

"Mother's day" (or the above permutations) appeared as a keyword 1,541 times on a total of 1,100 EANs, under a total of 250 BISACs. The top 25 BISACs used on these EANs include:

JUVENILE FICTION / Family / Parents (56 EANs)

FAMILY & RELATIONSHIPS / Parenting / Motherhood (40 EANs)

FICTION / Literary (37 EANs)

FICTION / Women (36 EANs)

BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Personal Memoirs (30 EANs)

FICTION / General (25 EANs)

FICTION / Family Life / General (20 EANs)

NON-CLASSIFIABLE (18 EANs)

FAMILY & Relationships / Parenting / General (17 EANs)

HEALTH & FITNESS / Beauty & Grooming (14 EANs)

FICTION / Historical / General (14 EANs)

COOKING / Regional & Ethnic / Italian (14 EANs)

GAMES & ACTIVITIES / Colouring Books (14 EANs)

COOKING / Courses & Dishes / General (13 EANs)

BODY, MIND & SPIRIT / Inspiration & Personal Growth (13 EANs)

SELF-HELP / Personal Growth / Happiness (13 EANs)

COOKING / Methods / Baking (13 EANs)

JUVENILE FICTION / Animals / Birds (13 EANs)

COOKING / Entertaining (12 EANs)

COOKING / Methods / Quick & Easy (12 EANs)

BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Women (12 EANs)

JUVENILE FICTION / Family / General (11 EANs)

JUVENILE FICTION / Family / New Baby (10 EANs)

FAMILY & RELATIONSHIPS / Parenting / Grandparenting (10 EANs)

BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Literary Figures (9 EANs)

Juvenile Fiction is the most popular overall category, with 38 different subcategories using the "mother's day" keyword, followed closely by Cooking, with 37 different subcategories. Other popular categories are Fiction, Biography & Autobiography, Family & Relationships, Crafts & Hobbies, and Humor.

A total of 100 publishers are using "mother's day" as a keyword, and of the "mother's day" titles we found, only 26 were Canadian-authored.

]]>Mother's Day book trendsCanadians and their reading habitsResearch & AnalysisKira HarkonenFri, 27 Apr 2018 17:39:24 +0000https://www.booknetcanada.ca/blog/2018/4/27/canadians-and-their-reading-habits550334cbe4b0e08b6885e88f:55a3f2b1e4b0d44eb7d704bc:5ae33ac488251b82d2af7182In part two of our leisure study, we examine the reading habits of Canadian
book-readers and book-listeners.We've already looked at what Canadians are up to in their free time, so now we're going to go a little bit further and examine the country's reading habits.

Every winter, BookNet runs a survey to see how Canadians are spending their free time. We asked 750 people from across the country a few general questions about their favourite leisure activities, but the primary focus was on respondents' book-reading and book-listening habits.

Of the 81% of respondents who said that they had read a book in the last year, we asked questions about library usage, book discoverability, favourite formats, and more!

Library usage

Out of all Canadian book readers surveyed, 50% of them told us that they had also checked out a book (in any format: ebook, print, audio) from the library. This number is slightly higher than it was last year (46%).

27.4% of readers say they participate in a book club/reading group.

What formats do readers prefer?

Of the readers that we surveyed, 92% of them had read a print book in the last year, up 2% from 2017. Also up 2% from last year is audiobook usage, with 28% of respondents reporting that they had listened to an audiobook in the past year. Ebook use increased as well, edging up 4% to 52%.

What devices are Canadians using for digital reading?

When it comes to digital reading, 35% of Canadians who read digitally prefer to read on a tablet, which is 3% less than the year before. The use of specific ereading devices is up to 25%, an increase of 2% since 2017. Computers, on the other hand, are losing popularity, dropping by 4% to include only 16% of readers who prefer to use their computers for reading digitally.

Smartphone use for ereading is continuing to grow in popularity, with 23% electing to read on their phone. This number has grown by nearly 10% in just two years. This is likely due to the ever-growing collection of ereading apps available to respondents. Some of the most popular choices include the Amazon Kindle app, the Kobo app, Google Books, Apple's iBooks, and Adobe Reader/Digital Editions.

How do you generally discover the books/ebooks/audiobooks that you read/buy?

Most readers discover books through word of mouth (46%) — a tried and true method for marketing. Simply browsing is another highly effective method for book discovery. 36% of readers find new titles while browsing in physical bookstores, while 31% of readers prefer to browse online. Social media book discovery comes in at 31% and discovering books in the public library comes in at 23%.

The rest of the discovery channels are broken down as follows: online communities such as Goodreads, 15%; print news or magazines, 14%; email newsletters, 11%; radio or television, 11%; book clubs and reading groups, 8%; e-reading apps, 7%; and "None of the above" came in at 9%.

72% read book reviews either online or in print.

Online habits of readers

A whopping 87% of surveyed readers participate in social media, with half of them visiting book-oriented corners of the internet. The majority of readers discuss books they've read in person, but only 40% of people socially discuss books they've read online.

So while 36% of readers discover new books while browsing in a physical bookstore, 11% of respondents have rarely/never set foot inside a physical bookstore, and almost 1% reported visiting physical bookstores daily (although whether or not that 1% also works in a bookstore was not reported).

]]>Canadians and their reading habitsWhat are Canadians up to in their free time?Research & AnalysisKira HarkonenThu, 26 Apr 2018 14:06:50 +0000https://www.booknetcanada.ca/blog/2018/4/25/what-are-canadians-up-to-in-their-free-time550334cbe4b0e08b6885e88f:55a3f2b1e4b0d44eb7d704bc:5ae0bee0575d1f1bde1bfc16We take a look at Canadians’ favourite leisure activities with a focus on
book-reading and book-listening habits.Every winter, BookNet runs a survey to find out what Canadians have been up to in their free time throughout the previous year. We asked 750 respondents from across the country a few general questions about their favourite leisure activities, but the focus was primarily on their book-reading and book-listening habits.

This is what we found out.

How Canadians are spending their leisure time

Since 2017, fewer Canadians are choosing to browse the internet (24%) in their free time and are instead electing to spend time with family (27%) and watch TV (26%). Reading is now the fourth most popular choice (21%), followed by watching a movie (18%), however, this survey took place before Black Panther hit theatres.

It's also worth noting that some people may classify watching Netflix differently, as it is a combination of watching TV, watching a movie, and browsing the internet.

Have Canadians read a book in the last year?

In our most recent survey, 81% of respondents said they had read or listened to a book in the last year, and though the percentage is still decreasing, the drop has not been too dramatic.

Has your reading increased or decreased from the previous year?

While 33.5% of respondents said that their amount of book reading/listening has increased in the last year, 47.6% of readers maintained the same reading habits, and 18.7% of readers said that they read less frequently than they did in 2017.

]]>What are Canadians up to in their free time?Relive the magic of Tech Forum & ebookcraft 2018: Part oneebookcraftTech ForumKira HarkonenFri, 20 Apr 2018 21:07:39 +0000https://www.booknetcanada.ca/blog/2018/4/20/relive-the-magic-of-tech-forum-ebookcraft-2018-part-one550334cbe4b0e08b6885e88f:55a3f2b1e4b0d44eb7d704bc:5ada2cc170a6adea4cc85804The first batch of Tech Forum and ebookcraft 2018 session videos are now
available on YouTube.Spring is in the air, and summer is just around the corner. Your friends are already planning what they're going to do when the weather improves, and every morning when you look at the temperature, you feel a tiny bit closer to finally retiring your winter jacket for the year.

None of this excites you, however. The passing of time just means that there's more and more space on the calendar between you and Tech Forum & ebookcraft 2018. The cookies and networking bingo are fading in your memory, and you've already lost your cool enamel pin.

If it sounds too good to be true, just head on over to our YouTube channel to see for yourself! And don't forget to subscribe so you can be the first to know when the rest of the videos have been uploaded.

And last but not least, we have also released April's podcast, featuring highlights of some of our favourite sessions from Tech Forum and ebookcraft 2018.

It's like Tech Forum and ebookcraft are happening all over again!

Happy binging!

]]>Relive the magic of Tech Forum & ebookcraft 2018: Part onePodcast: Highlights from Tech Forum & ebookcraft 2018PodcastsE-Books & E-ReadingebookcraftTech ForumBookNet CanadaFri, 20 Apr 2018 16:34:36 +0000https://www.booknetcanada.ca/blog/2018/4/20/podcast-highlights-from-tech-forum-ebookcraft-2018550334cbe4b0e08b6885e88f:55a3f2b1e4b0d44eb7d704bc:5ada0fcc575d1f5268f77290This month's podcast looks back at some of the highlights from Tech Forum
and ebookcraft 2018.In this month's podcast, we're looking back at our biggest book-publishing-meets-technology conference ever. From March 21-23, 2018, hundreds of professionals from across the industry, from ebook developers to librarians, converged in Toronto for Tech Forum and ebookcraft to share, learn, and debate the future of the industry.

We've put together a highlight reel from some of our favourite talks (though they were all amazing), with insights on topics like metadata for ebooks, how retailers are bridging the digital divide, some great moments from our women in publishing panel, and lots more.

]]>Podcast: Highlights from Tech Forum & ebookcraft 2018The poetry of poetry keywordsBiblioShareONIX / MetadataBookNet CanadaWed, 18 Apr 2018 16:59:47 +0000https://www.booknetcanada.ca/blog/2018/4/18/the-poetry-of-poetry-keywords550334cbe4b0e08b6885e88f:55a3f2b1e4b0d44eb7d704bc:5ad76cb9575d1f9af1a940d6We take a look at how keywords are being used in the Poetry category.April is National Poetry Month, so in our continuing efforts to celebrate the fact that more Canadians than ever before have been buying books by Canadian poets, we decided to take a look at how keywords are being used in the metadata for poetry books. Of the 26,675 titles with Non-Fiction / Poetry BISAC codes, only 4,136 of them use any keywords at all, and of those, only 420 are Canadian-authored.

Using our BiblioShare database, we pulled together a list of the top 50 keywords used for Canadian poetry books in an attempt to illustrate what all the fuss is about. Despite best practice recommendations (more on that below), unsurprisingly "poetry" is the top keyword, followed by "Canadian" and "poems."

poetry (183 EANs)

Canadian (159 EANs)

poems (111 EANs)

women writers (90 EANs)

nature (88 EANs)

canadian literature (80 EANs)

poetry books (74 EANs)

contemporary (72 EANs)

feminism (71 EANs)

music (69 EANs)

20th century (68 EANs)

literary fiction (67 EANs)

essays (67 EANs)

literary (67 EANs)

american poetry (65 EANs)

collection (65 EANs)

animals (64 EANs)

21st century (62 EANs)

love poems (62 EANs)

poetry collection (58 EANs)

birds (57 EANs)

modern (56 EANs)

poetry anthology (54 EANs)

american literature (48 EANs)

book club recommendations (47 EANs)

writing (47 EANs)

book club (46 EANs)

lyrics (45 EANs)

african american (44 EANs)

family (44 EANs)

english (43 EANs)

contemporary poetry (43 EANs)

songs (37 EANs)

fairy tales (35 EANs)

inspirational books (34 EANs)

biography (33 EANs)

christian books (32 EANs)

inspirational (31 EANs)

Canadian poetry (31 EANs)

translation (30 EANs)

experimental fiction (30 EANs)

award winner (28 EANs)

german (28 EANs)

christianity (27 EANs)

dogs (27 EANs)

environment (26 EANs)

african american books (25 EANs)

poem (24 EANs)

beat (21 EANs)

fairytales (21 EANs)

There are many keywords in this list that restate data that's discoverable by other fields (e.g., "poetry," "Canadian"), which goes against the guidelines proposed by BISG's Best Practices for Keywords in Metadata. There are also several keywords that seem to contradict the BISAC code and/or the Canadian contributor marker assigned, such as "american poetry" and "literary fiction."

Despite that, we can gather from this list that the typical Canadian poetry book is written by a contemporary African American woman (or women), and that it's about feminism, nature, music, love, birds, family, fairy tales, Christianity, and dogs. It's inspirational, award-winning, and recommended by book clubs. And it's fictional, yet slightly biographical. It has also been translated from German.

It can be tricky choosing which keywords will be the most helpful in constructing the best metadata, and so BISG's Best Practices for Keywords in Metadata often takes a backseat. However, if everyone followed the rules, reading a list of keywords wouldn't be quite as fun.

This is a guest post by Léonicka Valcius. She is an assistant agent at Transatlantic Agency and the chair of the board of the FOLD Foundation. Follow her work and sign up for her newsletter at www.leonicka.com.

As you scroll through the #FOLD2018 schedule you may be tempted to ask, "Which day should I spend at The Festival of Literary Diversity?" The correct answer is obviously, "ALL OF THEM!"

The festival, known as FOLD, is designed to be action-packed from start to finish. To demonstrate this, allow me to walk you through Sunday's schedule.

Our hugely popular breakfast session is back, with Tanya Talaga in conversation with Miranda Hill. The only thing better than listening to two writers in conversation is listening to two writers while you have a delicious breakfast. It was at one such session that I met Zarqa Nawaz! This is a breakfast you won't forget.

Then come the powerful panels. In Stitching Stories, Amber Dawn, Lisa Charleyboy, Jane Eaton Hamilton, and Dane Swan discuss the work it takes to edit and curate cohesive anthologies, short story collections, and literary magazines. As a romance reader, I am very eager to attend Heartwarming to Sizzling Hot, where Harlequin editors and authors will discuss romance writing, the state of diversity in the genre, and what romance lovers can look forward to in the future. Finally, if you still have strong feelings about this year's Canada Reads, don't miss the reunion special. Cherie Demaline, Sharon Bala, and Omar El Akkad will join Ali Hassan to talk about their books, Canada Reads, and what's next for them.

Sunday's schedule also features a FREE professional development track for emerging writers, which includes: a FREE info session with the Canada Arts Council, a FREE opportunity to network with underrepresented readers and writers at The Writers' Hub, and a FREE comics workshop with Johnnie Christmas. The Writers' Hub, specifically, is one of our crown jewels. I constantly hear industry professionals lament about how hard it is to find underrepresented writers and that underrepresented writers don't submit to them enough. Well, this is your chance to hear some new voices. Our exhibitor tables are SOLD OUT this year but come to the event to see the writers and publishers who are participating. Then make a note to have an exhibitor table next year.

In three years, the FOLD has become an invaluable resource for writers and industry professionals who are interested in making Canadian publishing and literature more equitable and inclusive. The speakers and writers who gather at the FOLD are brilliant and you need to hear their words. Many of the diversity-centered panels at Tech Forum 2018 left attendees asking "So what should we do?" Let me offer these initial steps: Come listen to underrepresented writers (both the writers on stage and the unpublished writers in the audience) speak. Bring money to buy their books. Bring your business cards to develop an ongoing professional relationship. Take notes for your colleagues so you can take action in your workplace.

The FOLD Planning Team has worked very hard to put the festival together. We'd love to see you there.

]]>Sunday funday at The Festival of Literary DiversityBookNet Canada AMABookNet Fun StuffBookNet CanadaFri, 13 Apr 2018 15:13:11 +0000https://www.booknetcanada.ca/blog/2018/4/13/booknet-canada-ama550334cbe4b0e08b6885e88f:55a3f2b1e4b0d44eb7d704bc:5ad0bfad352f539b6030d884We are hosting our first-ever AMA to help you understand more about what we
do and how we do it.

This is a formal invitation by BookNet Canada for you, yes you, to ask us anything!

That's right, we will be hosting our first-ever (non-Reddit) AMA in order to help you understand more about what we do and how we do it. Submissions are officially open, so if you have anything that you're dying to know, or maybe something you're simply curious about, now's your chance to ask. Questions will be completely anonymous. Once we have enough questions, we will share our answers in a post on our blog.

Sign up for our weekly eNews or follow us on social media to stay up-to-date with our AMA and to find out when we've posted our answers. The question period will be open for the next couple of weeks. Finally, we ask that all questions be respectful and appropriate. We reserve the right to choose which questions are answered.

We look forward to reading your questions!

Loading...]]>BookNet Canada AMAQuiz: What kind of book buyer are you?Research & AnalysisKira HarkonenThu, 12 Apr 2018 17:27:06 +0000https://www.booknetcanada.ca/blog/2018/4/11/quiz-what-kind-of-book-buyer-are-you550334cbe4b0e08b6885e88f:55a3f2b1e4b0d44eb7d704bc:5ace34d3352f53f7b7935936Our final Deep Dive study on Historical Fiction book buyers is now
available. Plus, take our Deep Dive quiz to find out what kind of book
buyer you are!

In case you're new to the series, let us tell you a little bit about what we've done: we joined together sales and consumer data to bring you an in-depth look at the biggest selling genres in Canada right now. In addition to sales trends for that subject, each study looks at those particular book buyers and outlines:

what non-book-related activities they do in a given month and year;

how they make their purchasing decisions – impulse purchasers vs. planners;

how often they read a given format; and

so much more!

Today we're going to introduce you to the Historical Fiction book buyer. You can read a free sample here, but if you want to know everything, you're going to have to buy the full report for $25 or get the whole series of eight reports for just $100. (Pro tip for SalesData subscribers: There are complimentary copies of all the studies available to you in the SalesData Research Portal.) Want to get a copy of The Canadian Book Market 2017 and the full Deep Dive series in one fell swoop (and at a heavy discount)? Take a look at our bundle offer and get your hands on all the data.

Since the Deep Dive reports cover the most popular subjects in Canada, from Sci-fi to Cookbooks and from Romance to Autobiography, we decided to celebrate the completion of the series by using all that data to build a quiz that will tell you what kind of book buyer you are! Ready to learn the (statistically based) truth? Take our quiz now.

Powered by ]]>Quiz: What kind of book buyer are you?Happy 2nd birthday, Loan Stars!Loan StarsBookNet CanadaTue, 10 Apr 2018 17:32:54 +0000https://www.booknetcanada.ca/blog/2018/4/10/happy-2nd-birthday-loan-stars550334cbe4b0e08b6885e88f:55a3f2b1e4b0d44eb7d704bc:5acce40d562fa79982ddb76dWe're celebrating another successful year of our Loan Stars program.Loan Stars is now in the Terrific Twos!

To celebrate, we have some stats and facts from our second year. Of course, we also have prizes for you. Presents! All the books!

Loan Stars is a readers’ advisory service that allows library staff across Canada to collaboratively select their favourite forthcoming adult titles. If you work in a Canadian library and are new to Loan Stars, keep reading to find out how to get started. Loan Stars pros can pass GO and skip ahead.

Hey, newbies! Now is an excellent time to get started. You can go to the Loan Stars website for all the details, but, in a nutshell, you're voting on the forthcoming books you want to recommend to readers. Each month, all the votes are tallied to see which books are the top 10 favourites of library staff across Canada! These top 10 lists are published and circulated widely as the monthly Loan Stars picks. (Check out our archive here.)

What happened this past year?

It was a great second year for Loan Stars. Library staff chose their 10 favourite books each month, and just like last year, voters largely favoured fiction titles over non-fiction. In fact, non-fiction votes were down 2.5% from 2016. In 2017, the number of votes for fiction titles totalled 92%.

92.5% of votes were for fiction titles.

Curious which genres were most popular in 2017? Us, too. Literary fiction took the top spot, accounting for over one-third of all Loan Stars picks. Thrillers slid into second place with 15% of votes.

Nine percent of the books were Mystery & Detective and books for, by, and about Contemporary Women made up 8% of the picks. Historical Fiction books follow at 7%. Both Fantasy and (Auto)Biographies were at 5%, with Sci-fi at 3%. Those are just the top eight genres loved by library staff across Canada.

Got a favourite genre of your own? You can win a few books in that category with one of our SIX prize packs! It might be our birthday, but, like hobbitses, we'll be the ones giving out presents this year.

Up for grabs are two prize packs for reviewing forthcoming titles, two prize packs for requesting titles, AND two prize packs for voting on your favourite titles. We're doubling everything in honour of our second birthday: Your first 20 votes, reviews, and/or requests count, which is double the usual maximum of 10 for our monthly contests, so get in there! The contest closes April 30 at 11:59 p.m. ET. Note: We're not doubling winners; each participant can only win one prize pack.

"Canadian Independent Bookstore Day is a day to celebrate the amazing independent bookstores in communities across Canada that develop and maintain a thriving book industry across the country. It is a day to go out into your community and enjoy the unique intersection of art, culture, business and opportunity that bookstores provide. Thanks to your participation, this event can continue to grow and thrive in the years to come. The purpose of Canadian Independent Bookstore Day is to show off the unique community spaces that bookstores create and was born from Authors For Indies... a national grassroots movement in support of independent bookstores."

Where Authors for Indies involved a tremendous effort from authors to organize and volunteer their time at the event, Canadian Independent Bookstore Day builds on that grassroots effort and encourages all indies to herald their status and uniqueness in the retail space with author events, community celebrations, or anything else that speaks to your store's customer base!

The US poster for Independent Bookstore Day.

If 2018 is your first time on the Indie Bookstore Day / Authors for Indies bandwagon, it might seem like there's too much to think about, but don't panic! Here's a simple list of things to help you plan your Indie Bookstore Day participation.

It's a good idea to note down what you're hoping to accomplish so you can look back and see how the day measured up to your expectations. When planning, here are some things to consider:

Take advantage of your store's strengths. Are you known for your incredible bargain books section? Maybe you can offer a one-day, buy-one-get-one-half-off sale and hold back juicy new remainders and bargain stock until that day. Is your store celebrated for beautiful window displays? Plan a window display that speaks to the history of your store and the role it plays in your community.

Call out Canadian Independent Bookstore Day in your monthly or weekly newsletter, your Facebook events listing, your website event listing, and any and all places you broadcast events, starting today (if you haven't already). Make sure you revisit the posts as the day approaches and fill in additional details as they become available. Try to list a stub with the relevant information as it pertains to your store: the date of the event (Saturday, April 28, 2018), the hours your store will be open that day, your social media handles, the day's hashtags (#CIBD #CdnIndependentBookstoreDay #BookstoreDay), and any other key pieces of information.

Connect with other independent stores in your area, especially bookstores, to better understand how you can promote Canadian Independent Bookstore Day together and prevent duplication. Many of your customers will overlap so building a plan that complements, not competes, with each other's plans will encourage your customers to support all independent retailers. Community support for independent business owners, and the unique spaces that they create, contributes to the overall health of communities. If you're part of a larger network of stores in your city or neighbourhood, consider a passport program where customers can visit multiple stores on the day and earn stamps to redeem for prizes or exclusive discounts, merchandise, etc.

Reach out to local authors, politicians, celebrities, or influencers. If you have well-known people in your community who support your store, solicit their feedback and support. Would they be willing to offer their support in the lead-up or day-of? Could they come in for a guest reading? Share on their social media channels? You'll find you have many champions in your community who will be willing to help — you may not even have to ask for any favours!

T minus 3: Week of April 9

This week is still open for imagination but you should be closer to establishing what you want to program for the big day. Even if it's only select discounts and a cake, it's important to start turning thoughts into realistic plans.

Staffing: If your plans and customer feedback suggest that you'll be busy, ensure that your store is well-staffed the day of the celebration. Even if it means bringing in a few more floor staff to cover a midday rush when programming is taking place, be sure to remember that you can't run a special event AND manage hand-selling AND take care of the cash desk, while doing all perfectly.

Get on the air! Ask your local radio station if they would consider sharing details in the day(s) before the event. If they don't usually feature community events, volunteer to come on the air with unique programming: you or one of your booksellers could provide listeners with book recommendations, essential kids' reading lists, or act as an on-air "book doctor" to take calls from listeners about their reading woes and offer suggestions. Explain that the event is not strictly to raise sales, but to raise awareness and celebrate the contributions of local independent bookstores in the community. Explain that your successes are due to their support. If your community doesn't have a radio program, offer a write-in column for a local paper, newsletter, or a "takeover" of a local influencer's social media feed.

Call your sales reps and publisher contacts. Explain that you have an event coming up and ask if they have any swag hanging around, particularly bookmarks and stuff for kids that you can hand out to customers. Remember: It's a party, and what kid who doesn't love a goodie bag?

Finally, if you have a bookstore cat: Exploit him or her! Play with your feline's celebrity and give the people (and the internet!) what they want: memories filled with adorable cats. Find a way to include your mascot on the day-of. Offer one-day-only pawprint autographs, set up a cat photo booth next to their favourite resting spot, order a pet-only cake, or whatever will allow the hardest-working member of your staff team to celebrate.

T minus 2: Week of April 16

This week is your deadline week, when you should allow yourself to get everything you need to put the day's plan into action. It's about making those final decisions, preparing your team, and putting everything into motion. Here are some ideas of what you may want to think about:

Finalize your schedule and share with the relevant participants. If you're hosting authors for readings and/or signings, bringing in local bands to entertain customers, either in or outside your shop. Make a simple (or detailed, if that's your jam) schedule with expected arrival times, mic checks, and on-stage times. Share it with everyone involved, including your staff, especially if they're required to make introductions or ferry an author through a busy store to the mic! If you need some more time or expect to make changes up until the day-of, create your schedule in a live, shareable environment like Google Drive others will be able to follow along with your edits.

Planning on serving food? Even if you're picking up cupcakes from a local bakery or ordering appetizers from a neighbourhood restaurant, it's a great idea to place the order 2-5 business days before it needs to be picked up or delivered. If you live in a larger city like Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, or beyond, food courier services like Foodora can be booked three days in advance and delivery can be timed to your precise needs. And, yes, everyone likes cake!

Pick up supplies. If you're doing anything out of the ordinary, plan to pick up supplies this week so you're not running around next week. Hosting a photo booth? (Side note: Why haven't I realized until now how handsome a well-stocked, spine-out bookshelf can function as a portrait backdrop?) Make sure to pick up silly props! Making a customer memory wall? Pick up an Instax camera, some film, and a few Sharpies so your customers can leave personalized notes for you to post in the store on the day-of!

Check on stock. Especially if you experience longer delivery times to your store, you may want to review your stock levels this week and order event-specific stock so you have it on-hand on the day-of. If you tell your distributor and publisher representatives that you're ordering event stock, they may be able to assist you in monitoring and ensuring smooth delivery.

T minus 1: Week of April 23

This week is all about the small details, freeing up your time on the day-of to be present in the moment, and celebrating! This week, you want to automate and plan for as much as possible so the day goes smoothly:

Simplify your social media life. Every busy marketer knows that scheduling social media posts ahead of time is a huge time saver. It also eliminates those panicked moments where you planned to tweet about an author's arrival at the shop but only remembered 30 minutes into their reading because you had to run and get stock from the back to replenish a table. Thankfully, all the major platforms (as well as tools like Hootsuite) allow for posts to be scheduled ahead of time. Here are some tips on how to future-post on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Reach out to partnering businesses, authors, customers, your staff, and anyone else you feel will spread the word about your store and the splash you're making for Canadian Independent Bookstore Day! Make sure you give them all the relevant details as it pertains to your store: the date of the event (Saturday, April 28, 2018), the hours your store will be open that day, your social media handles, the day's hashtags (#CIBD #CdnIndependentBookstoreDay #BookstoreDay), and any key pieces of information.

Are you serving food from local businesses? Ask them to tease pictures of the food, offer a promotion the same day as the event so your customers can head over and support their business, or just hand out flyers in their store and talk up your event.

Ask that any participating authors broadcast their participation in the event and send a call to action to their fans to visit your store (or other independent bookstores on April 28 and beyond).

Mention the event to every customer who visits your store this week and hand out flyers promoting the day and your plans. Ask them to come back on the day-of to celebrate with you and take advantage of the offerings you have in store.

Your staff are some of the most dedicated participants in your store's success so encouraging them to own the day as much as you do will help you tap into a major marketing force. Ask your staff to spread the word during their shifts as well as through their personal social media and face-to-face communications. Encourage them to welcome their friends and family on the day — it's as much a celebration of their work as it is your store!

Decorate! Of course, most of your decorations will be hung on the day-of but you can always spread out the work by adding decorations incrementally as the day approaches, which also slowly creates a party feel that can build excitement among your customer base, particularly the young ones!

Make a trip to the bank: If your tills are busier than usual, you might need more change than usual.

Blast off: Saturday, April 28, 2018

Now that you've done most of the work in advance, here's what you need to think of on the day-of:

Final decorations go up.

Tables stocked with event-specific stock and in-section shelf-talkers and the like displayed.

Food laid out or ready for delivery (with serving utensils, cocktail napkins, and a plan to collect refuse). If you're serving alcohol, ensure the necessary permiting and procedures are in place.

Take pictures (lots of them!) and share on social media during set-up and when things get going. Even if the store isn't open yet, shots of it all gussied-up will excite your patrons and encourage them to drop in. And remember to tag your staff, authors, and customers in pictures when you can and the event will show up on their personal feeds so they can attract the attention of their friends and followers.

Ready your thank-yous: You will see a lot of social media and in-person love on the day-of from customers and fans near and far. Thank them (personally, if you can), effusively.

Finally, don't forget it's a celebration!

Are your Independent Bookstore Day plans already well underway? Comment below or share on social media with the day's hashtags (#CIBD #CdnIndependentBookstoreDay #BookstoreDay) and get the word out!

This guest post is by Laura Brady, manager of Cross-Media at the House of Anansi Press, and the editor-in-chief of EPUBSecrets. She consults on workflow, tools, specifications, and production best practices. In her spare time she helps plan ebookcraft and follows the Blue Jays. She also probably tweets too much.

Are you still revelling in the ebookcraft afterglow and looking for ways to keep the conference stimulation going? Consider attending CreativePro Week (June 4-8 in New Orleans). CreativePro Week is a relatively new amalgamation of several longstanding conferences (and one new conference to keep things fresh).

This year’s iteration includes old-timers like the Photoshop and Illustrator Conference (aka Ps/Ai), the InDesign Conference, the print and e-publishing conference known as PePcon, and for the first time, Click, a presentation design conference added by Anne-Marie Concepción and David Blatner, the organizers behind this “super” conference. There is also a Design Deep Dive with noted designer John McWade. Last but not least, there is the well-established Creative Developers Summit, which is attended by the insanely talented scripters whom I love so much.

As the name suggests, CreativePro Week is designed for creative professionals and offers content that appeals to beginners, as well as content tailored for more experienced people. The sessions vary from the three-hour pre-conference tutorials designed to introduce attendees to, for example, the basics of HTML and CSS, to short 45-minute to one-hour sessions on really specific topics. This year at PePcon, there will be talks called Lies Your Printer Has Told You, Three Forward-Looking Publishing Processes, and Ebook Design Is Not an Oxymoron. Every single time I have attended, I come away with at least one new trick or tool that makes me more efficient.

But here's one of the main things I've found after attending PePcon and its antecedents for seven years or so: The community is incredible. The people who put it on are enthusiastic, friendly, and smart and that feathers out into all aspects of the conference. The speakers are more gregarious than is the norm. And the attendees are warm, eager to learn, and happy to help if they can.

And the conference moves around, which adds an extra layer of fun. (I think they should only stage in MLB cities, but not everyone shares my baseball obsession, apparently – weird.) I have been to San Francisco, Austin, Chicago, Philadelphia, San Diego, and Atlanta. I am very much looking forward to this year’s edition in New Orleans – and may add a day or two to my journey for eating and drinking purposes.

While Canada Reads 2018 wrapped up in March, crowning Mark Sakamoto's Forgiveness as this year's winner, most literary awards take place during the fall. Don't worry, we have award data to keep you satisfied until then!

Canadians' awareness of literary awards

We surveyed more than 700 Canadian book buyers about their purchases in December 2017. While the holidays may be the only thing on everyone's minds at that time of year, it's not too long after award season. So we asked shoppers about the literary awards they are most aware of (both Canadian and international).

It's important to mention that some awards have been created to support authors and the literary merits of their works, so their mandates may not be focused on trade sales and buyer awareness. That being said, sales and awareness are not unimportant, so we find it worthwhile to investigate and track these things.

The results of our study show that, out of all the literary awards we asked about, book buyers were most familiar with the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, an American award "for distinguished fiction by an American author, preferably dealing with American life." In terms of Canadian awards, book buyers were most familiar with the Scotiabank Giller Prize and the Governor General's Literary Awards. All together, respondents were more aware of awards for fiction than awards for non-fiction books.

Luckily, we have amazing Canadian awards for both fiction and non-fiction; you don't have to choose just one! For a quick rundown:

There are two Writers' Trust awards: the Hilary Weston Prize for Nonfiction and the Writers' Trust Fiction Prize.

The Scotiabank Giller Prize recognizes excellence in Canadian fiction.

The Governor General's Literary Awards promotes Canadian literature of all genres, encouraging both adult and younger Canadians to read.

The Charles Taylor Prize increases public appreciation for literary non-fiction.

Influence on book purchases

When our surveyed book buyers were asked how they became aware of the books they purchased, more fiction buyers discovered those books because they were prize winners or nominees (1.2%) than non-fiction buyers (0.7%). Respondents were able to select multiple answers for how they became aware of books purchased in December 2017.

Zooming outwards, we can see below how both fiction and non-fiction buyers became aware of the books they purchased. Most book buyers become aware of their purchases while browsing or from reading other books by the same author.

All in all, literary awards are not high on the list of reasons why most Canadians choose to buy books. That being said, there are always other factors that are difficult to measure. For example, a customer at Indigo may pick up a book simply because they saw it on a table and thought it looked interesting, but Indigo may have put the book on the table because it was an award winner. So while we know that the majority of book buyers don't go into a bookstore determined to find an award-winning title, whether an award-winning title finds them is another story.

If you can't wait for longlist announcements in the fall, take a look at our new master list of literary awards and research studies.

]]>How aware of literary awards are Canadian book buyers?#NationalPoetryMonth: Rupi is the new RumiResearch & AnalysisKira HarkonenTue, 03 Apr 2018 16:09:13 +0000https://www.booknetcanada.ca/blog/2018/4/3/nationalpoetrymonth-rupi-is-the-new-rumi550334cbe4b0e08b6885e88f:55a3f2b1e4b0d44eb7d704bc:5ac389d36d2a737c800bd070We are in the midst of a poetry renaissance, and it's all thanks to the
internet. We look at how sales in the Poetry category have changed in
Canada over the last decade.We are in the midst of a poetry renaissance, and it's all thanks to the internet. Poetry never really died, but it did kind of disappear for a while, lurking in the shadows of English classrooms and on dusty bookshelves. Often its relationship with social media was limited to the occasional ee cummings quote pinned to a "Poetry" board on Pinterest, or a badly edited photo on Facebook of something Rumi may or may not have said.

But times have changed. Now, if you search for "most popular poets" on Google and scroll through the list, after you pass about 30 black-and-white photos and illustrations of a bunch of dead (mostly male) poets whose names you probably read one time in English class, you will eventually come across a very modern photo of a young woman who was probably born in the same year that the most modern poet on the list died (with the exception of Maya Angelou). This woman is Rupi Kaur, and she helped bring poetry back to life.

At the age of 22, Kaur published her first book of poetry: Milk and Honey. Her poetry debut took the internet and the publishing world by storm. She and other so-called Instapoets, such as Lang Leav, Nayyirah Waheed, Warsan Shire, Tyler Knott Gregson, and r.h. Sin took over bookstores everywhere, largely thanks to social media. In a world of 140 characters or less, these poets are finding a way to be heard.

Milk andHoney, published in October 2015, has been making the bestseller list for over two years. Kaur's second collection, The Sun and Her Flowers, was published in October of last year, and has done just as well, if not better than Kaur's first collection. According to The Canadian Book Market 2017, 93.45% of poetry books sold in 2017 were paperbacks. Of poetry books sold in this format, the top 10 were all by millennial poets:

The Sun and Her Flowers by Rupi Kaur

Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur

The Princess Saves Herself in This One by Amanda Lovelace

Love Her Wild: Poetry by Atticus

Whiskey Words and a Shovel I by r.h. Sin

A Beautiful Composition of Broken by r.h. Sin

Whiskey Words and a Shovel III by r.h. Sin

Depression and Other Magic Tricks by Sabrina Benaim

Adultolescence by Gabbie Hanna

Whiskey Words and a Shovel by r.h. Sin

Looking at print book sales in Canada over the past five years (as tracked in BNC SalesData since the week ending March 24, 2013), Milk and Honey ranks at #13 in terms of units sold, with The Sun and Her Flowers not far behind at #21. Since BookNet began collecting sales data (October 2005), Milk and Honey comes in at #84.

When we compare the top 10 poetry books since BookNet started collecting sales data in 2005 until the year before the publication of Milk and Honey (2005-2014) against a similar list including the years afterwards (2005-2018), we find some incredible things.

Top 10 Print Poetry Books (2005-2014)

The Book of Longing by Leonard Cohen (TP) 🇨🇦

The Book of Longing by Leonard Cohen (HC) 🇨🇦

Love Poems by Pablo Neruda

The Iliad by Homer, translated by Robert Fagles

The Odyssey by Homer, translated by Robert Fagles

Beowulf translated by Seamus Heaney

Stranger Music by Leonard Cohen 🇨🇦

The Essential Rumi by Rumi, translated by Coleman Barks

Paradise Lost by John Milton, edited by William Kerrigan, John Rumrich, and Stephen M. Fallon

The Divine Comedy by Dante, translated by Allen Mandelbaum

Top 10 Print Poetry Books (2005-2018)

Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur 🇨🇦

The Sun and Her Flowers by Rupi Kaur 🇨🇦

The Book of Longing by Leonard Cohen (TP) 🇨🇦

Love Her Wild by Atticus 🇨🇦

Love Poems by Pablo Neruda

Book of Longing by Leonard Cohen (HC) 🇨🇦

Chasers of Light by Tyler Knott Gregson

A Beautiful Composition of Broken by r.h. Sin

Whisky Words and a Shovel I by r.h. Sin

Whisky Words and a Shovel II by r.h. Sin

First and foremost, so-called Instapoets have completely knocked all literary classics from the list. Homer, the Beowulf poet, Rumi, John Milton, and Dante — all poets who have been celebrated and studied by scholars for hundreds of years — have been bested by the powers of Instagram (for now, at least).

As a whole, poetry sales in Canada were up by 185% in 2017 compared to 2016, according to our report The Canadian Book Market 2017. Poetry made up a solid 1.01% of all print unit sales in Canada, whereas in 2016, poetry only represented 0.4% of the market. To give these percentages some context, during poetry's slowest week in 2017, 3,907 books were sold, whereas during poetry's slowest week in 2016, only 1,715 books were sold.

Poetry sales have increased dramatically in the last two years, in no small part due to Kaur's book sales. The Sun and Her Flowers came out around the time of this spike in 2017's sales, during which time sales of Milk and Honey also saw a boost.

Unit sales by week (2013-2017) – Comparable stores*

The red line indicates the on-sale date of The Sun and Her Flowers (03/10/17).

* Excludes some retailer sales; refers to a subset of consistent retailers used for year-over-year comparison.

Obviously, with success comes criticism. Instapoets have received a lot of backlash from "real" poets who don't think that Instapoets are able to offer anything substantial to the world of art and literature. Instagram poetry walks a fine line between accessible and overly simplistic, with a style that makes it an easy target for keyboard critics everywhere. Some critics argue that Instapoetry is "artless" and is giving poetry a bad name. But isn't what qualifies as "good" art a century's old debate that is ultimately unwinnable? And this debate almost always comes after an artist starts making a lot of money for their work.

At the same time, some critics have embraced Instapoetry and have used it to promote their own work. Whether you like it or hate it doesn't change the fact that Instapoets have made poetry mainstream, giving poets everywhere new hope: it is possible to make a living as a poet. At least for the time being.